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Dear Friends of the Forum, I open this thread to be placing and presenting the skeletal composition of Pterophyllum scalare.

It's something that always attracted me. This fascinating world that lies within our Scalar and goes unnoticed for a good part of which is dedicated to the acuriofilia.

This is a work that started long ago with work timid dissection and currently on a scheduled'm doing for my home forum "Planetacuario" and as this fascinating world that is dedicated "The Angelfish Society" which begins to occupy an important part in my life.

The truth is that if I find interesting, because although I have searched for information on bone formation thereof, it is really rare and found only allows us to get an idea of ​​how our fish are inside.

When we want to understand something more of their adaptation to nature, we have no choice but to explore through dissection.

With the "Technical Dissections" not at all intend to do a treatise on it, but yes give out the possibilities before us.

But before following questions arise, why dissecting a Scale?, What gives us?, I guess many more will emerge and that you yourselves will go finding the answers.

Enter something deeper analysis of the internal constitution will give us an idea of ​​its adaptation to the environment, responses to it by their physiology, and sometimes in much deeper detail disease identification and its skeletal composition.

It's funny, but I would like to find on the Web or on paper more details of our fish "Scalar" anatomy skeleton, organs, etc.. however seems to be a field not explored, or at least found publications devoted to "Pterophyllum scalare", jump to the most obvious times to make a quantum leap and penetrate the depths of certain diseases without the didactic course focus and teach us, basic and important functions of the constitution and anatomy.

When looking for documentary support for performing dissections, I have noted that most has focused on a single model "Fresh Work". While we will make this model also dissection in a second part, we begin with the "Work in cooking".

Therefore clarify why differentiation of both necessity and dissections."I work in cooking"

With work in cooking destroys most of us could reveal evidence or provide their internal organs. Also of course any external semi character, gills and eyes. However, this type of work will serve to lift the skeletal and bone map our Pterophyllum. Being heated fish body allows easy fleshing the same and go pulling out and assembling the component parts, as well as some little secrets that reveal the same closely guarded, of which we have heard about but never seen. I have not found a picture of the complete skeleton of a Scalar and analysis of bone parts, so I think it is time to lift as, analogies that map and comparisons with other fish and Cichlid Teleost finish identifying its different parts."I work in fresco"

A must ascertain when the functionality of the internal organs, as well as to observe these differences with fellow family "The Cichlids". This type of scan will reveal even some diseases in some cases, not all, because in a large part of the cases will be necessary to use high-level microscopy and so alien to our possibilities. If for work in cooking is essential and appropriate needles using various enmangas, being more than enough for the task, in fresh dissection scalpels scalpels or be irreplaceable to penetrate in the scene that we are hiding behind skin scales and .

For such explorations "Fresh Work", our Scalar must not have been dead a long time, indeed, sometimes just hours can disrupt work at the beginning of decomposition processes destroying or falsifying evidence of its organs. If for any reason we can not tackle the work at the time of death, if we can proceed to their conservation.

To keep the copies with which you can work then we use two methods, cold storage (freezing copy), or the inclusion in a glass jar with Formalin diluted to 10%, which can add Borax, a teaspoon of tea for each 1/4L to avoid mold.
In both cases it is necessary to give much-needed guidelines at both the effectiveness of conservation and care in handling and preparation.

In the case of fish under cold chain (freezing), we note that its documentary value will decline over the months. When conservation is by Formalin diluted, should take precautions. Regarding the properties Formaldehyde is highly toxic and irritating, wear gloves and avoid contact with it, and breathing of vapors.

We recall that we have two possibilities in the work to be performed, one of them was the dissection of specimens subjected to cooking. This method use only serves to disassemble and analyze our fish bone pieces, we can see the complexity manifests to penetrate their separation, special coating complexity is all bone and head shape. The soft tissues and organs will be destroyed not valid for analysis.

When I cook I do not mean exactly the catchall term, much less take for the specimens to be analyzed, to boil it, simply and to get an idea, it is softened and meat tissues to which makes us easier to release and cleaning.

Ideally, submit the fish to the lowest temperature even if we increase the time you have to stay in hot water all the time checking that water does not boil at all, keep in mind that the scalars are flattened body and narrow and that the effects when subjected to heating water are proportional therefore also the size of the specimen to be analyzed is also another variant, not the same pitch introduce a standard length of 5cm to 10cm one. When the eye turns white can be taken as a good indication that the Scale is ready for skeletal survey. Anyway when cooking is done the first one can be seen if the cleaning and separating the meat from the bone pieces is easy or difficult, indicating the need to increase the times given in the Chaldean or why not reduce it.

Typically, the ventral (soft) disposing, Ojo!, As now exposed and possibly loose the components of the pharyngeal jaw and depending on the depth of heating because even we get to drop the otoliths, with the difficulty subsequently involve the search and collection. Note that for example the otolith smaller the "LAPILLUS" and depending on the size of the Scale may be less than the head of a pin.

One possibility at the time of submitting our Chaldean piece is wrapped in foil, while avoiding the dispersion of the soft tissues, prevent us to control with a glance the status of cooking it.

[COLOR = "DarkGreen"] [B] Before submitting our exemplary dissection can and should be taking notes in our lab notebook a series of visual observations of the fish, not only of the variety or species, file numbering for both photographic as parts or samples taken later, and their appearance, visual damage and skin scales, fin damage, and any other information that we think is relevant and is interesting shape. [/ B] [/ COLOR]

If our research, curiosity or interest leads to somehow make the odd dissection (more than one), this archival work and classification, will no doubt also will add value to our work.

If something should not miss is the standard measure of fish subjected to dissection, especially when we will establish measures of bone parts or internal organs.

If empower and materials to make a success of our work are important, not less so is the "patience", fetch a quiet, conditioned to the tasks to undertake and meet course focused on the actions we made.

In the work of cleaning the soft, fleshy parts of our fish (cooking), instruments that are paramount are, the mounted needles, a fine brush (watercolor type), small dissecting scissors and tweezers. To think that despite everything we once these materials in these sizes of parts, will be enormous and somehow hinder their use and handling.

In the video below you see a model of cleanliness using mounted needles and brush, despite being tiny in size objects are sometimes large for our purpose, especially if it's clear some parts that require more precision.

When looking for previously published material on the otoliths of our Scalar, I must admit that I only found one publication and rather low on them. "Nuevas contribuciones al conocimiento de los peces actuales" by Juan Bauza and Manuel Compte, pages 79, 80 and 92.

So our work is to develop and expand specific information on Scalar Otoliths.

For those who are new to this world inside our fish, several questions will arise, but perhaps the most immediate are What they are, What are they for?.

The otoliths are one of the most important parts of the inner ear of fish, particularly bony fish (teleost) are calcareous forms constituted largely by Aragonite deposition (calcium carbonate CaCO3) and conchiolin protein.

These are found within a few bags located in an area near the braincase and are known as "otic capsules." To be precise, there are three pairs of members (six in total), known as LAPILLUS (2) Asteriscus (2) and Sagitta (2), one set of each of the pieces located in each sachet and on both sides of the fish.

Otoliths and keep a similar characteristic shape in each species, within species differ slightly, however their main forms allow identification and therefore categorize it.

Its size is very small, we reached in previous paragraphs discuss the tiniest otolith is "LAPILLUS" and in some cases barely the size of a pinhead.

These otolith "LAPILLUS" Scalar correspond to a standard size 5cm. Its shape resembles that of a kidney. Otolith these are included in a camera called "Utricle" and the rest of the otic capsule submerged in a liquid that is the endolymph. The primary function of these otoliths is to act as fish informing level of position.

Another otoliths mentioned in the "Asteriscus", in much cases somewhat larger in size than the "LAPILLUS" otoliths copies are circling like size 5 cm standard length. The "Asteriscus" are located in a chamber called "Lagena". These together with the otolith last "Sagitta" are actually hearing late charge and this otolith "Asteriscus" who communicates the vibrations to the brain organs.